


Those We Love

by AryaTred



Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It, M/M, Poe not Rose, Protective Poe Dameron, Spoilers, Stormpilot, tlj - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-19
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-17 01:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13066707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryaTred/pseuds/AryaTred
Summary: SPOILERS FOR TLJ. Alternative version of certain events during the Battle of Crait: it's Poe who decides that Finn's idea is beyond stupid, not Rose.





	Those We Love

**Author's Note:**

> Beta thanks to wonderful Luke <3
> 
> Note, X.2018: It was my first published fanfiction ever and even from the perspective of one year it seems rather silly now, but well. At least it's edited now.

The ski speeders were unbelievably old and Poe barely suppressed a curse when he stomped a bit heavier on the floor and found his leg dangling outside of the scrap worthy vehicle. Well, no one ever told him it would be easy to be one of the galaxy underdogs. He got his leg free from the hole and focused on the mission and his squadron.  
“Alright, they’re not exactly X-wings, but we’re gonna do this people! Course straight for the superlaser.” He saw with satisfaction that his rag tag squadron of mechanics, technicians and few surviving pilots formed a perfect V-shape while approaching the cannon.  
“The cannon is heavily armed, the only way to destroy it is to fire at it while it’s open and ready to blow” Finn said through his comm. A second later a swarm of TIE fighters descended upon them from the skies.  
“Evasive manoeuvres!” Poe ordered, barely escaping the green lasers of the First Order ships. The ski speeders started to fly chaotically, trying to avoid the enemy’s fire, but the purple red mineral trail that they left behind was far too easy of a target. Soon the plain was covered with the wrecks of the Resistance ships. Fighting with the controls of his own vehicle Poe looked in horror as one by one the speeders were destroyed. He just couldn’t believe that this will be it, that the Resistance will die today. Before he finished the thought, a TIE fighter exploded in a ball of fire and he saw that the Millenium Falcon joined the fight. The famous ship was everywhere: doing barrel rolls, taking out TIEs and drawing away the rest of the fire. Dameron smiled, excitement and adrenaline pumping through his veins. He heard Finn whooping happily and Rose chuckling softly over the coms.  
“We’re still on people! Let’s go and get that cannon!” he shouted into his headset and changed the course again. Now the cannon was coming closer quickly.  
“All the TIEs went after the Falcon!” Rose noted with a hint of disbelief in her voice.  
“They hate that ship!” Finn responded with a smile in his voice and Poe couldn’t stop the smile spreading on his face. The Millenium Falcon was just about everything that Kylo Ren hated. Serves him right too. They got closer to the cannon and Poe saw that they were too late. The cannon was about to fire any second now.  
He had learnt his lesson. It was time to survive and fight another day.  
“Fall back! It’s too late!” he changed the course and saw Rose doing the same, but then he caught the sight of Finn going straight for the cannon in a suicide run.  
“Finn! Fall back!” Poe shouted desperately into the comm and cursed his luck. He knew so well what the damn kid was doing and thinking, he had been doing exactly the same thing over and over again so many times. That day as well, but he finally understood why that wasn’t the point.  
“We have to take down this cannon, it’s opening, now is my chance!” he heard Finn yelling through the comm and his heart constricted at the surreal familiarity of the situation when he shouted:  
“Fall back Finn! It’s an order!” Even before the words escaped his mouth he already knew they wouldn’t change anything. They were not good at following orders, they were Rebels, weren’t they? He knew Finn had switched off his comm. Acting on instinct he punched it and changed his speeder’s course. He would not be losing another soul today, not a single one, and certainly not Finn’s. Making sure to avoid the other speeder’s cockpit he rammed his vehicle into Finn’s almost at the same moment as a red energy beam split the air and flew towards the Rebel stronghold. At the moment of the impact he saw that they were both safe outside the blast zone and then he blacked out.  
***  
Finns climbed out of the scrap metal that used to be his speeder feeling dazed and confused. One second he had been flying straight into the jaws of the laser cannon, the energy beam slowly gathering around him, certain that this would be his end, and the next second he crashed onto the salt plane, his speeder shattering all around him. He looked around, seeing that fortunately there were no stormtroopers or laser fires in sight. Next moment he saw in horror that what was once the heavy gate to the Rebel stronghold now is a hug, still smouldering, hole. Something closer caught his eye. It was another crashed speeder and then, finally, everything fell into place.  
“Poe!” he shouted and ran towards the wreck realizing that the pilot rammed his speeder into his and by that gotten him out of the blast range. Poe’s speeder seemed to be in a much worse shape than Finn’s and he looked around desperately searching for the cockpit. As soon as he found it a sudden pang of fear paralyzed him for a second because he saw Poe, still strapped in, lying unconscious inside the wreck.  
“Poe! Poe, wake up!” he got there in a few strides, kneeled next to the speeder, bringing his hand to Poe’s neck and the relief flooded him instantly when he felt the pilot’s pulse, strong and steady. He gently tapped his friend on the cheek.  
“Poe. Poe!” after what seemed an eternity to Finn Poe’s eyes flutter and he looked at Finn, a bit confused, with a soft smile on his face. Finn looked at him with wide eyes and asked, being unable to comprehend what just happened.  
“Why? Why would do it?”  
“Finn, we won’t win this war by fighting those we hate. We’ll win by protecting those we love” Poe’s eyes were clear while he said this and he continued to look at Finn fondly, as if they weren’t sitting in a wreck, in the middle of a battle, and Finn felt suddenly filled with warmth. The words rung as true to his ears as possible, but then he saw Poe closing his eyes again.  
“Oh no, no, no, you’re gonna be fine, you’re gonna be just fine Poe, just hang on” he murmured to himself as he pulled Poe out of the wreck and picked him up to flee back to the stronghold.


End file.
